Foxglove
by Storm0fCrows
Summary: On an Earth that never should have been Poison Ivy became the Guardian of the Green. With her power she liberated her world from the Rot by subduing those that would spread its influence. She turned their heroes against them until nothing stood in the way of her Utopia. With her Victory achieved, Ivy now only wishes to spread her gift through the multiverse. Alt!power PlantTaylor
1. Prologue

A/N: I don't own anything. This is just an idea that has been rattling in my head.

XxX

Prologue.

XxX

On a thriving Earth that never should have been… stood a vibrantly green utopia.

It was place unlike anything else this world had ever had because it was not ruled by creatures of flesh and blood, but by the plants and other flora that had evolved since the benevolent ruler took control. This was a peaceful place where a single woman, that was more plant than human, ruled over all with a strict but fair doctrine: 'Respect the green or be buried beneath it'. Her name was Pamela Lillian Isley and once upon a time she had been just as human as the people she ruled over but that had been so long ago. Now, years later she was queen of everything on this isolated Earth.

Pamela Isley had given up crime after Batman toppled Superman's Regime. She had even gone as far as to hide her plant like appearance from the world at large and continue to protect the Earth through science instead of violence... but it was not to be. Like most former villains Pamela was dragged into the hero game by outside forces, namely Damian Wayne the traitorous son of the Batman himself. He had threatened to kill Harley if he did not comply with his desires... and in the end he followed through despite Ivy's attempts to please him.

With the only thing keeping her tethered to humanity gone, Poison Ivy stated a campaign to make the world an Eden. Wonder Woman had been the first to fall and alongside her Ivy gained control of a Kryptonian girl by the name of Kara. Together they killed the Black Adam liberating Kandaq from his rule and turning its large deserts into an oasis for endangered plant life. Batman and his followers opposed her but she slowly but surely enthralled them. Bruce Wayne protected his son despite everything he had done claiming that she had no right to judge him.

And once again the world was plunged into war.

It had taken her years but eventually she had stamped the resistance led by Batman. Something Superman hadn't been able to do. Each battle had given her new soldiers, each soldier ensured that her crusade to save her Earth from infestation it suffered from would be successful, and with every inch won she grew closer to avenging her dearly departed Harley.

Damian died a slow death. Wonder Woman had snapped his back causing large scale paralysis the likes of which he would never recover from. Ivy allowed him to live simply for the pleasure of watching the hatred in the man's eyes each time she made his mother, Talia al Ghul, submit to her. Plants kept him alive as he withered away after each visit. Soon he there was nothing left of young Damain. Nothing and no one would remember that little monster, if Iv had a say about it.

With peace finally achieved, as the Atlantians refused to intervene on affair of the surface, Poison Ivy grew worried by the state of other Earths in the Multiverse. If any other version of her planet suffered as her Earth had suffered she felt compelled to intervene... but the problem was that she could not simply abandon her duties on her own perfected Earth. It would be like she wished to invite outside forces to invade her Green paradise.

As such Poison Ivy put her best minds on the conundrum and they found answer fairly quickly. If Pamela couldn't go to other Earths they would simply pick out someone worthy amongst the populace of that universe and gift them with a connection to the Green as Pamela had been. Of course this endeavor would take time but she was fairly confident that it would be a successful venture.

To no one's surprise it took Mister Terrific and his newest creation BROTHER EYE a week to chose the first candidate; a girl from a similarly isolated but dying Earth with heroes by the name of Taylor Anne Hebert.

The girl was perfect.

Like Poison Ivy, she was meek and yet aspired to be a hero. Like Pamela, she had suffered far too many betrayals at the hands of friends. The girl was socially isolated by her bullies and her teachers did nothing to alleviate the strains that this harassment caused but Ivy was certain that this could be boon. The Green would become a lifeline,. Unlike her though was the lack of means in which she could achieve her goal but that would change as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

The reason that Pamela elected to wait wasn't due to any form of hesitation but due to this isolated Earth's version Metahumans gained their powers through so-called " _Trigger Events_ ". According to the foremost Scientists of that Earth, trauma was the catalyst for these incidents. This of course wasn't known amongst the common populace, instead they believed that powers developed thanks to genetics or these people breaking past the barriers of human potential and developing powers.

It was an effective way to make sure that people didn't needlessly injure themselves in an effort to gain powers. With Transgenetic Hybridization Ivy could circumvent this and insure that Taylor gained all the abilities she needed to protect the green n her world. The reason that Pamela wished to wait for a traumatic event to occur to Taylor was because she didn't want to bring undue attention to her future sporeling and by the rate of escalation in which her bullies were operating, Mister Terrific estimated that such an event would happen sometime midwinter.

The opportunity came sometime after New Year. Taylor was attacked from behind by one of her aggressors. She struck the base of the skull with enough force that the taller girl was left disoriented as she was violently stuffed into a locker filled with toxic waste. Knowing how useless most humans were Ivy was not surprise that none of her classmates, none of the witnesses, and none of the teachers helped the girl.

Ivy had watched the live feed for fifteen minutes before commencing the procedure. In less than a minute five vials were injected into the girl via Zatanna's magic. Each vial contained a plethora of powers extracted from members from some of the willing members of the Parliament of Trees of which only Alec Hollard, The Swamp Thing, former Guardian of the Green. From Swamp Thing Taylor gained Bio-fission, regeneration, and Elemental control… and from Pamela herself she gained Chlorokenisis, Toxikinises, limited Biokinises, pheromone control, and toxic immunity.

As the contents of the vials flooded Taylor's system the screams changed from pleading for help to agonizing wails. The screaming would stop but the wild thrashing would continue for hours yet no one approached the locker out of fear of the consequences of aiding Taylor. An entire night would pass before the Janitor would find her in the morning and by then she was catatonic.

Taylor was carted away before the other students arrived. This would be an obvious trigger event but due to the corruption of the school staff and the efforts of one lazy supervisor within the Parahuman Response Team, the story would never leave the school and those responsible would remain unpunished.

But none of this mattered to Ivy, not now in the crucial moments in which her sporeling could either pass onto the Green or bloom into the protector her world so desperately needed. The Anthropomorphous Orchid watched with wrapped attention as the transgenetic hybridization entered its final steps. Ivy could feel the transformative chemicals reach her brain.

Ivy had Zatanna ward off Nurses and Doctors until she was absolutely sure that the process was complete.

When Taylor's formerly dark, brown eyes opened now a dark green Pamela knew that Earth Bet had a new Guardian.

XxX

A/N: And this is my first expedition into the world of Worm... so i hope you enjoyed. I always thought that Poison Ivy had the more deadlier power sets in the DC universe as her spores were able to control Superman, but as usual we cant have the villains get a solid win otherwise the story ends and we are left without some great story lines. This story is the mixture of two what ifs that have been bugging me for months. What if Poison Ivy had stepped up her game during the Events of Injustice and what if Taylor could talk to plants.

Both what ifs were equally interesting (In my head at least) so I decided to mix them.

Please leave a review, I do enjoy reading feed back and they help me write.


	2. Geranium 1-1

Taylor Hebert sighed for the umpteenth time as she looked at her saggy ham and cheese between two slices wheat sandwich that she ate in the cleanest bathroom stall in Winslow… which wasn't saying much considering the entire school was the amalgamation of both literal and human filth. It wasn't a sigh of relief nor a sigh of frustration , it was a sigh of acceptance of her current situation

.As sad as it was she couldn't bring herself to care, it was her only refuge in this wretched, green-forsaken place. She came here for the small peace that its isolation awarded, away from Sophia, Emma, Madison and their cabal of screeching harpies.

In the months since those bitches shoved her in the locker Taylor had gone through a physical and mental metamorphosis. Physically, she was two inches taller, her wide mouth was bit fuller to upset its wideness, her skin was as pale and as smooth as a white rose petal, her hair, sadly, wasn't the same shade of brown as her mother's had been… she'd cried for a week when she woke up noticing the midnight violate strands of hair… but that might have been because of her condition than her longing for the woman who raised her…. But on the upside she had boobs now.

Not that anyone noticed. Between her reputation and her plain brown hoodies, no one cared enough to really see her. Well… Greg did, but did he really count? He just clung to Taylor because he thought she was desperate enough to succumb to his "subtle" seduction. Not that it mattered, tonight things were going to change

Taylor Hebert would become a hero and none of the teenage drama would matter as soon as she stepped into her costume. The only reason she hadn't done so before was because the dark and gloomy months that had followed the Locker had driven her into a rut. Her father, in a rare moment of empathy, drove her to a doctor friend of his, who's name she couldn't remember, diagnosed Taylor with Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD as she had called it.

She couldn't risk making mistakes that would lead her future enemies back to her father and something told her that playing dress up while depressed was a sure way of getting someone she loved killed. It was a distant voice within the Green whose gaze she'd felt linger a few times since Taylor left the hospital. It warned her that her anger would be unmanageable during those long, dark months and that if she wanted to be labeled a Hero she would have to temper her emotions.

Lunch in the bathroom had become routine but unlike before her transformation, she wasn't doing out of fear. She was doing it to avoid unjust punishment by the faculty. As they harassed her, Taylor felt that they were scrapping away at her patience. If things escalated she would undoubtedly react violently but she wouldn't use her powers against non-capes. That would be a quick way to have New Wave, the PRT, and the Protectorate swarm her.

Like caterpillars on a Sunflower, they would chip away at her until there was nothing left.

So she would endure, until she snapped and by then not even the rampant Rot of this world would be able to protect them.

Taylor froze as the door of the empty bathroom swung open. She didn't move, she didn't event pretend to breath as she usually did, the Sporeling remained stark still as the whispers drew closer. The next thing she knew there was a persistent wrapping of knuckles on the wooden surface.

Taylor tried to ignore it but as it slowly go louder, she felt compelled to answer.

"Occupied." Was her terse response, much to her regret what immediately followed was Madison's squeal. She was popular, but not gorgeous in the way the stereotypical popular girls on TV were. She was 'adorable', instead. Petite. She played up the image with sky blue pins in her shoulder length brown hair and a cutesy attitude and the teacher's ate it up.

"Oh my god, it's Taylor!" She exclaimed gleefully. There was a cacophony of whispers that followed and followed by a hushed "Yeah, do it!"

A feeling of panic welled up in her stomach when the realization that her bullies had her trapped once more. Noises came from both neighboring stalls but Taylor barely noticed them as she unlatched the lock on the stall door… with minimal strength she attempted to open the door but the door wouldn't budge and then came the 'prank'.

They didn't give Taylor another chance to escape again as they rained cranberry juice on her head. Before her transformation the acids of the small berry would have irritated the soft tissue of her eyes but now it barely impaired her vision. Of course, Taylor couldn't exactly let her trio of bullies know this, so she covered her eyes, knocking her glasses of her face.

A cascade grape juice soon followed but by then Taylor had gotten a good look at the culprits pouring sticky fruit by product on her head. On one side she saw Sophia Hess' smirking down at her and on the other was Madison… Which meant that the one holding the door was Emma, this sparked a wave of righteous anger.

Before she could act on her rage orange soda hit her head but unlike the cranberry and grape juice this actually burned. Taylor let out an frustrated scream as she shoved the door with more strength than she meant to which caused her former best friend to fall onto the juice covered floor. She didn't stop to see if she was alright, instead going to the sink to wash out her eyes.

"The fuck, Hebert?!" Sophia shouted, jumping off the toilet that propped her up. Taylor saw her approach though the mirror.

 _'Deep breaths, Taylor_ ,' She thought to herself before turning to face her harassers. The door swung open, and I glared up at the three girls. Madison, Sophia and Emma. Where Madison was cute, a late bloomer, Sophia and Emma were the types of girls that fit the 'prom queen' image. Sophia was dark skinned, with a slender, athletic build she'd developed as a runner on the school track team. Red-headed Emma, by contrast, had all the curves the guys wanted. She was good looking enough to get occasional jobs as at amateur model for the catalogs that the local department stores and malls put out.

Together, they had been everything Taylor had hoped to be, minus the sadistic personalities. Taylor had inherited her mother's expressive lips, and she used to have her father's large eyes and lanky figure but with her powers she unconsciously corrected her perceived flaws. Looking at the mirror, she almost looked like her much younger, more beautiful version of her mother, but not really. She still looked far to much like herself to ever really be like her.

Before the locker she'd often found that the world was against her but the Green showed her differently. The people were not the World, they barely formed a fraction of the Red, yet she had given them strength over her. She could no longer allow them to paint her opinion of herself.

Before the locker, Taylor would have hung her head and walk out. Before the locker Traylor, would have done her best not to rock the boat because she knew that none of the teachers would lift a finger to help her. Before the locker, Taylor Hebert had been alone…

Now?

Now she was part of the Green…

She could **not** bow.

So when Sophia moved to shove her against the sink Taylor stepped aside at the last possible second while resisting the urge to blow hypnotic spores at her bullies face. The tiled floor was slippery with the juice they had so graciously provided which turned to be enough lubricant to carry the bully's momentum,

The Sporeling had little doubt that had Sophia expected her sudden movement she wouldn't have fallen for her improvised trap. Meek little Traylor would still being doused with fruit themed sodas,

Sophia hadn't even considered the possibility of Taylor fighting back, not that she was. Taylor made it look like she had moved to get some paper towels from the dispenser. The bitch glared at Taylor as she pushed herself off the sink but she paid Sophia no mind instead locking eyes with a still recovering Emma.

Before Winslow, she had been an anchor for her grieving friend. Emma had always been the strong adventurous one but then something happened and Sophia stole her away from Taylor. When the pranks had started and Emma had stopped inviting her over, she still held onto some hope that they could reconcile, that her friend would return if she was diligent enough but betrayal after betrayal had shattered that. Taylor couldn't reconcile the spiteful bitch with the sweet but outspoken girl of her youth. Looking at the animal she had become she couldn't feel anything but anger towards her former friend.

"Is there some pattern that I should perceive in this senseless pageant..." Taylor struggled with to find the appropriate words for what she'd just experienced. "…of atrocity?"

The Green liked to preach that it offered not strength but restraint but as it was all she could feel was the insurmountable pressure to strike out and end those that would abuse her patience. It took every piece of moral fiber she had to stop the wild, volatile, conscienceless force of nature within her.

"Who do you think you are?!" Emma shouted once she finally gained her footing. She must have seen something in Taylor's eyes because she was shaking. Out of anger because the taller girl had ruined her skirt or fear, because something within Taylor betrayed the danger she was so close to unleashing.

She flinched when Taylor moved past her back to the stall to get her things. She attempted to cover it up by getting into her face and impeding and shouting.

"You ruined my skirt!" It was simple bolstering, a show that no matter what Taylor did she would always consider herself superior to the broken girl that had barely survived her mother's death. Blood and Chlorophyll pounded in her ears but she remained motionless as Sophia's muscles tensed. Madison had her phone out, no doubt ready to publish a video where the weird girl assaulted the innocent, popular, and beautiful girl.

Sophia the track star hero would become a real hero as she pulled Taylor off Emma. Taylor would get expelled because Alan would move heaven and Earth to protect his daughter, Taylor would get expelled and then nothing would change except now she'd get arrested.

It became like a mantra that she would tell herself to keep the Green from striking her down. Self-preservation over whatever need for revenge that threatened to over take her due to her condition.

Instinctively Taylor's body began exuding pollen that would jump start Emma's production of Vasopressin. This would in turn cause the red head to experience anxiety like she never had before. The shaking became worse, sweat began to become noticeable, and her bright green pupil's dilated.

The Guardian of the Green took one step closer her former friend and leaned in. Emma was truly terrified now and she didn't know why.

"Pull something like this again, Emma…" Taylor whispered into her ear. She did it so softly that said girl could have confused it with petals stroking the side of her face. "… and I'll show you who I think I am."

The camera couldn't have heard that but it did see the gentle pressure Taylor exerted to move the red-hair and collect her things.

Once inside the stall, she collected her once khaki backpack, now a rainbow of color. There was little doubt that her art project was ruined. Her fist clenched and the roots beneath the Earth shook, alerting me that I could unleash the Green's fury whenever she so fancied but something within her was stopping her. Maybe it was the thought of her father's disappointed face or the realization that she wouldn't feel guilt if she decided to snap those two flesh bags waiting outside the door in half. But whatever the reason was, she picked up her things and left without anther word.

Emma stood frozen in fear, Sophia flared in anger, and Madison radiated worry.

It was almost satisfying but as soon as she stepped out of her former sanctuary, she saw Emma's cabal of bitches chatting right outside the bathroom door.

"Pathetic." Was the only word that came to mind as they gossiped. She hadn't realized that she had spoken allowed until they all stopped what they were doing to look at her. Taylor continued her march past the students, glaring at anything that got too close, until she was out of Winslow.

Winter's cold bite was unforgiving but the sun that fed her filled her with the strength to ignore it. Taylor made her way to the nearest dilapidated park, dead grass came to life the second her shoes touched the soil, flowers sprouted and bloomed and even the odd butterfly flew despite the winter chill. She made a beeline to the healthiest tree, with the deepest connection to the Green that she could find rested her hand on it.

The wood warped until it began to hum with the Green's life giving energy and she melted into its calming embrace.

XxX

As Taylor traversed the beauty of the Green her thoughts drifted to the ruined notebook in he bag. It had once contained her plans to start her career as a hero but that was slowly becoming a less appealing prospect if she had to protect creatures like Emma, Sophia, and Madison. People that took pleasure from the suffering of others had no place within the green.

She could easily become a Rogue like Parian. She cold grow endless amounts of cotton and sell it so to companies to make clothes and blankets. In fact, she made a mental note to approach the puppet cape to establish some kind of trade.

Resources for money and designs didn't sound so bad. If she played her cards right she could easily make enough money to help fix up the house… maybe even enough to transfer to pay the tuition Arcadia.

Arcadia was just another High School but unlike Winslow it had a reputation that it needed to protect which meant that they didn't tolerate bullies. Her grades would undoubtedly improve once she was away from those that wanted to sabotage her… which would give her some breathing room to which she could maneuver.

But her plans to help the Green develop culminated with her becoming an influential figure like Alexandria or Legend. If she appeared to be a simple Biotinker she may also draw the attention of some undesirable attention to herself. She was white as a human could b, so the E88 would totally try to recruit her.

She could already see those Nazi bastards calling her Edelweiss, despite the symbolism behind the plant. But if push came to shove Mistletoe was poisonous enough to kill one of their gods, Kaiser would fall if he tried to extort her father. Something within the Green, hidden among the unknowable mysteries, reassured he that she would bloom into an Avatar that could easily defeat the incomplete puppets of the Metal and the Rot.

She guessed that she could be made to alter her features to fit the ABB''s standards of recruitment but Taylor doubted that it would come to that. Lung was the Apex of what the Red had to offer but she the chosen warrior of the Green. That same something claimed that Taylor would survive against the Dragon of Kyushu… if she allowed herself to grow before engaging the beast.

There was a tug that told her that she had arrived at her destination. It was a sensation like no other and Taylor despised it. The Green was Natural Order, Comforting, all encompassing life… to be torn from it was like purposefully blinding oneself. But it was necessary.

 _'Do other parahumans feel this way?'_ She asked herself as she exited the stump in her backyard. According to the PHO Tinkers overloaded if they didn't couldn't create what they imagined… did they share the same feeling as when she separated from the Green or was it completely different?

Taylor shrugged as she made her way inside. "Does it really matter?' She mumbled to herself. It was strange that despite the agony she felt when she left the Green she couldn't help but feel comforted as she approached her home. It was old, rugged, and some would even say dilapidated but it was a sanctuary that the Trio could never take away from her.

Taylor didn't take off her shoes or drop her backpack until she was in the bathroom. Vines emerged from the small potted purple foxglove that aided in peeling away the sticky human clothes. It was petty use of her power but she didn't want to touch her ruined clothes more than she already had.

Once free from those restraints she stood under the cold spray of water until was there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she was free of the artificial tints that stained her unnaturally white skin. The plant deposited her clothes near the drain in some vain hope of salvaging them but Taylor was sure that she needed to get replacement soon enough.

Once she felt sufficiently clean, the Sporeling cranked the water of before vigorously toweling off whatever excess water clung to her skin. Once she went to her room and deposited her wet clothes in the laundry, she made her way to the basement. Taylor didn't bother with clothes as she knew that it would be hours before her father returned from the Dock Worker's Union… and besides what was the point of putting on clothes if she was simply going to take them off in a couple of minutes?

The basement like the house was old and had never been renovated. The floor used to be concrete but after hours of effort had managed to make a large hole that connected her to the soil. At its center was a large carnivorous plant reminiscent to flower monster from an Earth Aleph film mother enjoyed watching. To that spirit she named the house's protector Audrey III … unlike her film counterpart though it did not _need_ blood to grow just nutrients from the Earth.

Her father never went to the basement, which gave her ample time to mold her plants into tools that would help her be a decent hero. She had mushrooms that held fast acting toxic spores to immobilize her enemies when they exploded, she had thorns made from Ironwood covered digitoxins, and an old bat that used to belong to her grandfather.

Audrey chirped happily as Taylor rubbed her upper lip. In turn the large fly trap's vines brought out her costume. Her costume came in six pieces that were completely impractical for a normal human to wear but Taylor made due. She'd taken inspiration from ancient Samurai armor she'd once seen in Lord's museum before the ABB stole it. It was layered pieces of plates held together by vines. Shoulder guards ran to her palms, that in turn hooked to the chest piece that reached halfway down her thigh, which in turn hooked to the shin guards that reached above the knees.

The entirety of the armor was made out from ridged Ironwood but the moment it made contact with Taylor's skin it became as flexible and light as a feather. Her helmet covered the upper half of her face with two pointed and an elongated snout, which made it reminiscent of a fox. Neither served any practical purpose other than aesthetic reasons.

She wanted foxes and plants to be the first thing someone thought of when they saw her costume. If they couldn't get the reference she was sure that she could get to the library quickly enough to access PHO before the PRT saddled her with something stupid like Thorn or Hazel. Foxglove would stick one way or the other.

It was her mother's favorite flower after all.

For a first costume, it wasn't so bad. She treated each piece with tree sap to protect them from the elements.

Teams like New Wave and the protectorate had it easy. They undoubtedly had suppliers that could replace any damaged or broken pieces. Taylor had to slowly grow hers from scratch before she could even think of shaping it into something worth wearing but considering the alternative… she'd rather not have to rely on others for the components. Taylor was lucky that the Green protected her plants from the worst of Brockton Bay's mild winters or she would have been forced to wait till spring before she could truly be ready to become a hero.

Audrey hissed softly as the armor merged Taylor.

"You deserve a nice sunlamp, sweet pea." She cooed lovingly. Aubrey was just the sweetest thing, she was worried that Taylor was going to do something particularly stupid. "I'll be safe. There isn't anything in Brockton Bay I haven't prepared for."

Little did she know how badly she would come to regret those words.

XxX

A/N: Here's chapter two. This chapter came along much faster than I had anticipated.

I wanted to highlight the influence the Green has over Taylor, how it distances her enough from her humanity that she slowly grows apathetic towards them, and how the Green isn't as peaceful as Swamp Thing's deep and mellow voice makes us believe.

I took inspiration for Taylor's costume from Sakuyamon from Digimon… well at least the helmet. Its possibly the coolest fox based human that I could find.

For those that reviewed the last chapter: Thanks for the feedback, I hope you will continue!

If you haven't or want to, please review it inspires me to write.

Well… that's all I have to say… so happy trails until we meet again.


	3. Geranium 1-2

It was a cold night for the mild Winter that had lingered in Brockton Bay, colder than it was used to experiencing. The temperature had dropped from temperate fifty degree weather to an freezing thirty. This was especially daunting as Taylor made her way towards the Downtown area, which was closer to the water. Before Allfather, Marquis, and the Teeth took root this city was a bustling metropolis. Ships from all over used to make port in the Bay but like all good things it all came crashing down.

When the shipping and fishing industry started to weaken companies decided that between the gangs and the violence between them it was best to find safe harbor in more controlled cities, like Boston or New York. This lead to what would eventually become the Boat Graveyard. It was a glorified scrapyard with ships larger than skyscrapers that lay rusted and broken north of the Markets.

Downtown was mostly empty during the weekdays because of three things. The first was the gang presence, Empire Eighty-Eight patrolled the streets in effort to keep the Azn Bad Boys trapped within the Docks. The second was because the high probability of Cape Clashes in Brockton Bay, between the gangs trying to gain territory and the Heroes the chances of becoming a smear on the sidewalk were incredibly high; and the third reason, possibly the most mundane of them all, was that most people had to work the next day.

As soon as the sun fell under the horizon, Taylor had made her way towards this mostly empty part of the city on foot. She had never seen New Wave take the bus, nor did the Wards, she sure as hell wasn't about to expose herself as the hero who was reliant on Public transportation! Sure she could have used the Green but she wouldn't be able to fight crime from within its embrace unless some jackass tried to mutilate a tree. As she wandered through the cold New England night, she wondered how non-mover Capes ever got anything done?

' _With their bright colored costumes and attention grabbing looks it's a wonder that criminals don't start fleeing when they spot them miles away_.'

…

A brief look at her own costume derailed that line of thought almost instantly. Her costume was rather dark, not a lot of heroes wore dark… unless they were either Shadow Stalker or Alexandria… was she breaking some kind of code by wearing dark colors? While she gladly admitted to adoring Alexandria, she doubted she could keep the dark broody façade as long as the woman did. Then there was Shadow Stalker who embodied that arch type perfectly. And lets not forget the high number of villains who simply adore wearing dark clothes; neither of those were the messages she wanted to convey.

"What message **_do_** I want to send?" Taylor asked herself. Her armor was intimidating, which was good, guardians should be respected above all things but maybe adding a bit more color wouldn't necessarily hurt. As it was the only visible colors besides the dark wood were from her green skin and light violet hair. "The right kind of flowers would make me more approachable… while conveying messages depending on the arrangement."

With thoughts of her costume absorbing everything, Taylor wandered aimlessly through the eerie back ways of Brockton Bay oblivious to the world around her.

Time moved at a snails pace as she walked the dark, dimly lit side streets that was until she heard a pained scream that made her pause. It sounded close but not close enough that she could place it. The scream was definitely male in origin… but then again it might been a very masculine brute… powers were weird like that. The next thing she knew the entire area was enveloped in a thick darkness that muffled her senses and drowned the sounds of the city.

It was suffocating. The darkness devoured everything, sound, light, smell, and even the warmth slight warmth from under her skin vanished as this complete and utter blackness became her world

Her fear started to grow as something instinctive told move away from the growing shadow. The faint sound of batwing's sounded in the back of her mind and that was enough for Taylor to retreat back towards the main street. She wasn't sure what prompted this kind of reaction her instincts had helped her survive the past three months at Winslow, so she didn't question it. But before she could get far a large mass smacked right into her, tackling her to the.

Taylor's first instinct had her wrapping her attacker in Wisteria vines, that spouted from the ground with enough force to punch a hole through the concrete, and then slam them against a nearby wall. Turned out that hitting the guy hard enough caused shadows to retreat, allowing the Anthropomorphic Orchid to get a good look at them.

It was a man. He had broad shoulders, bulky, taller than Taylor by a few inches clad in black bickeresk leather suit and helmet with a stylized skull. He was actively trying to escape his binds but couldn't due to the sheer number of Wisteria wrapped around him. His movements were frantic and he wasn't looking at Taylor, which was good indicator that he wasn't trying to get away from her at all. With thought he vines tightened around him stopping his struggle and causing him to grunt in more pain than it should have.

A quick glance at his right leg explained why.

A black sixteen arrow was stuck right above his knee. He was bleeding but Taylor couldn't really tell because of his clothes but it looked bad. In time she was at nature camp they taught her basic first aid but nothing to treat an arrow to the knee… or maybe thigh… it was that part of the leg that was sort of between the two and her power wasn't really useful with non plant based being.

"Look out!" A deep muffled voice reverberated from behind the skull and Taylor rolled to the side narrowly avoiding an arrow aimed at her center mass. Out from the natural shadows emerged a cloaked figure with expensive looking tactical armor and a hockey mask looking piece of armor protecting her face. There was something different about the armor… like it wasn't exactly like what Taylor remembered seeing when they debuted them as a hero, it looked worn and in very few ways, functional instead of protective.

Now, Taylor had never been much for the cape scene until she managed to get her own powers but even she could recognize a local Ward when she saw one. There was something feral about the way she was moving that put Taylor on edge. Heroes were meant to reassure the public, but as she took aim with her crossbow Taylor didn't feel reassured. No, on the contrary she felt something akin to fear but not that exactly.

When the Arrow released, Taylor responded by sprouting a volley of Wisteria vines as cover. It didn't stop the arrow but it slowed them down enough for her to hit with her bat. Taylor opened her mouth to say something but before she could a shadow wraith darted through her vines and shot at her once again. This time Taylor rolled back to get onto her feet.

She swung her bat at the Heroes arm but it passed harmlessly through her. The wisps then solidified into the Shadow Stalker. Her fist was already sailing for Taylor's exposed chin. The hit staggered her a bit but the kick that followed was what truly disoriented her. The next thing Taylor knew was that she was on her ass and the bat that she had clutched onto so tightly was in the Ward's hand and barreling toward her head.

Once she made note of her weapon, Taylor saw red. It beyond insulting to use her own weapon against her… thus she let Shadow Stalker know that with snap of her fingers. The bat came to life and like snake it turned its head and bit into the Wards neck. The bight was just strong enough to pierce the light armor around neck, break the skin, and inject a mild amount of digitoxin into her system. It wasn't anywhere near the lethal dose but it was enough to induce some of the more uncomfortable symptoms of digitoxin toxicity.

The Hero screamed in surprise more than she did in pain, but it was enough for Taylor to execute another roll and get back on her feet.

Shadow Stalker entered her wrath like state, freeing herself from the snake-bat, and took aim at her once more. But this time Taylor wasn't going to hesitate just because the other teen was a hero, no, she was going to make sure that she couldn't hurt her or her prisoner.

Taylor grabbed one of her mushroom bombs from and dug her thumb into its spongy head and aimed in the Ward's direction. Removing her thumb released flavonoid filled spores. It would have the same effect as chamomile tea… if they had hit. The digitoxin in Shadow Stalker's system was taking longer to affect her than Taylor had predicted for some one of her size.

The arrow was released but it missed by a quarter of an inch and the Hero herself had sidestepped the stream and was moving away from her. Hero crushed the mushroom in her hand while the bat slithered just out of sight, Taylor pursued intent on making Shadow Stalker focus solely on her and not on her masked prisoner,

The Ward loaded another bolt and aimed it once again at Taylor's center mass and once more the bat struck just as Shadow Stalker. The armor was denser around the forearms than it had been around her neck, so the bite did little else than throw off the archer's aim. Taylor continued her charge, but as their bodies were about to slam into each other, the supposed hero shifted into her smoky state.

Turning on her heel, Taylor reached for another mushroom, this time intent on allowing it to detonate. Just as she detached the stem from her belt a wave of absolute Darkness swept through surrounding area blinding her. The drowning sensation returned full force. In a moment of hesitation, she held onto the fungus before loping it in Shadow Stalker's general direction.

Even through the thick darkness Taylor could vaguely sense the soaring fungus. Unlike other that constituted the Green Fungi were an oddity to Taylor. She couldn't sense them as easily and she couldn't grow them as quickly as she did other flora. She had never truly understood were Fungi fell into the vast Green as they were technically facilitators of decay or at least that's how it worked within the boundaries of the natural world. But then again the relationship between The Green and The Rot had always been confusing… and so was their relationship to the Red.

In the part of Taylor's mind that wasn't focusing on the grenade contemplated a new line of inquery spawned by her thoughts on the soon to be exploding fungus: Now that she triggered what was her role within the Red? She wasn't exactly human anymore nor was her blood entirely red either. Her metamorphosis had made her of the Green, so where did that leave her within the Red? The Red, run by their own Parliament, constituted all animal life, including humans.

Taylor guessed that she was to the Red as Fungi were to the Rot.

Not that it mattered much… at least not now while she was in costume fighting an aggressive hero with a crossbow. The only thing that mattered now was that her knock out mushroom did its job.

As such, it was a relief when she felt it hit something but that was quickly forgotten as she was hit square in the chest by something traveling fast enough to knock the wind out of her lungs. Taylor staggered back a step, her hands flew to the center of her chest just as the shock of being hit dissipated and was replaced by pain. In the distance there was a pop, like a when she and Emma used to pop balloons underwater in the former's pool.

Despite the rapidly growing pain, Taylor could sense the concentrated spores floating around Shadow Stalker and some clinging to her clothes and cowl. She could feel tremors caused by her cough as the hero tried to escape the cloud, and the quaking steps as the hero attempted to retreat. Thankfully it wasn't just Shadow Stalker affected by her knock out grenade.

Foxglove's prisoner began his own little coughing fit when the spores reached him but unlike the Hero who had managed to move beyond her senses he wasn't as resistant to them. It was either that or he'd lost a lot blood The complete darkness retread towards him as unconsciousness took hold, not that she noticed with an arrow sticking out of her chest.

She was lucky that her had stopped the bolt from piercing her skin, but Oh, how it stung! It felt like she'd been punched in the chest by Lung!

"Bitch!" She shouted at no one as she tugged at the arrow. The wood armor fought her attempts at removing metal object from her person. In her mounting frustration her attempts became much more violent in nature culminating in her using the vines she had create from the fight to both hold her in place and pull the arrow out.

This was not how she expected her first outing to have gone. She was suppose to stop villains from hurting the people of Brocton Bay not duke it out against a Ward over a... Villain? Vigilante?

"Oh, Fuck." Taylor didn't even know if the guy she was protecting was a wanted criminal! Not that it should have mattered, the rational part of her brain argued, Shadow Stalker was using live ammunition against a wounded target and had attacked her with every intention of ending her life while Taylor only did what she did to protect herself. But that wouldn't matter to the Protectorate, no, the only fact that mattered was that she had fought a Ward and they would twist it so it looked like she'd been the one attacking the Hero.

The arrow finally came loose and made a hollow, clattering sound when it impacted the concrete wall. Taylor wanted to punch life in its face for the sheer unfairness of it all. She had donned the mask to become a hero and now what? She might as well have slammed that door in Armsmaster's face!

She'd failed again!

 _'No, you didn't.'_ The rational side of her brain spoke up. ' _You saved that man's life because he was in danger, because it was the right thing to do!'_ Even in her anger and frustration she could see the sense of her own actions.

A few deep breaths later and another few minutes of discharging her emotions into the Green, and Taylor had completely calmed down. This allowed her to think clearly once more. She needed a plan, which meant that she needed to get answers from her prisoner.

Foxglove tilted her head enough so that she could see his unconscious form still trapped to a wall by vines. She needed answers and the only way she was going to get them was if she got him treated, but as she made to stand up she found that her entire body was shaking, The adrenaline that had been coursing through her veins was slowly regulating. For the first time she noticed the loud drumming of coming from within her chest that she had ignored since she had stepped out of her decrepit house and onto the mean streets of Brockton Bay. Her heart was ponding but it slowed as catharsis spread across her brain.

After all she had fought a Hero who had tried to kill her.

A trained cape had tried to kill her.

Her first cape encounter ad the only thing she had to show for it was a bruise beneath her chestplate!

For the first time in a long time Taylor actually giggled… This soon evolved into laughter, and eventually deteriorated into short burst of chortles as she tried to calm herself down once again. Slowly, she moved towards her helmeted captive to more clearly assess his condition and need be save his life.

He was form was almost unmoving, which was extremely worrying, she could vaguely feel his shallow breathing through his binding but with every second that passed it became weaker. Taylor didn't know much of human anatomy, as they had only skimmed it during Biology, but she knew that it didn't take the human body long to die because of blood loss. Judging by the damp patch in the vines, there was enough blood too seep though the Wisteria.

As he was now, she wouldn't be able to figure out exactly what he had done that had a hero gunning for him with so much anger that she had attempted to kill a bystander that had trapped her prey.

He definitely didn't have Kill Order on him, PHO would have exploded with the news. There were very few capes who warranted a Kill Order and most, if not all, were far too dangerous to allow a lone Ward to go after them. Hell, full teams usually shied away from tackling those kinds of threats unless absolutely necessary, so that theory pretty much debunked itself.

From what Taylor had read up and jotted down in her freshly ruined Hero Journal, Wards weren't supposed to patrol or face down parahumans alone. Thy were supposed to work in groups, pairs at least, the fact that the edgy cape was off alone hunting random parahumans did not sit well with Taylor. The fact that she was doing it in Empire Eighty Eight territory just accentuated that something was rotten in Brockton Bay.

This inflamed Taylor like nothing else. The possibility that an organization she had looked up to when she was child was marred with corruption! It shouldn't have surprised her, all things considered, Winslow had been in the word of Old Ben Kenobi "A wretched hive of scum and villainy" why wouldn't the PRT and the Protectorate be any different. Maybe someone had sent her to recruit this guy and when he refused she shot him! That would explain the low survivability rate of independent cape!

"Tinfoil hat warning, Taylor." She mumbled to herself. Though there was little doubt that something was wrong with the organization, there was no evidence to support her rather absurd theory. Which meant that maybe this guy knew something that they wanted hushed up.

'No.' She thought to he self with a slight shake of her head. 'No ones that brutal unless they are personally invested.' Shadow Stalker wasn't going after him because it was the right thing to do, she was doing it because she wanted to. Shadow Stalker was one of the more controversial Wards, according to the PHO, she had made a name for herself as an independent before joining the Wards, many claimed that she had been responsible for a number of brutal beating that plagued the gangs but most of that was considered slander by the larger community but there were still some that believed the rumors and claims.

After tonight Taylor wondered if there was more to them than she had initially given them credit for. With a sigh she admitted that she needed to better research the local cape scene, by limiting her focus to local villains she had left herself unprepared for an encounter with a hero. She shuddered to think what would have happened if instead of a crazy Ward she was face with a veteran Protectorate member like Dauntless or Assault.

Why couldn't she be a cape nerd like the rest of the world? No, she had like computer!

"You're heavy for someone who's lost a bunch of blood." Was her only remark as she slung her captive over her shoulder. He didn't respond, which didn't surprise her in the least… he was unconscious after all.

No one ever appreciated her attempts at humor.

Now… what was she supposed to do? Shops were closed and Taylor doubted that anyone would lend her a phone and payphones were out of the question cause she neither had the money to use them… and most, if not all of them, were broken. It became rather apparent that she needed a cellphone… and maybe a coin pouch.

Just another oversight that she needed to fix when she got back home.

Closing her eyes, Taylor closed her eyes and searched for the largest patch of Green in which she could port to Brockton General. _'Would that even work with him?"_ From what she glimmered in biology animals couldn't survive exceedingly high levels of Oxygen, which there was a very large amount of within the Green. The choice was a rather simple one: Let him bleed out or possibly poison him… either she tried to save him or she let him die?

With a grunt, she began to maker way towards the park and hopefully drop him off at Brockton General before Shadow Stalker smeared her none existent reputation.

XxX

Adam's Park was almost as empty as the rest of Downtown, with the exception of a few homeless people sleeping on the park benches. Taylor could smell the Rot consuming a few of them from within. Drugs did horrible things to people, it was why out of all the gangs that plagued the Bay she hated the Merchants the most. Drugs were perversion of Green that aided the Black into twisting creatures to do it biding, but even before her trigger, drugs made her anxious. Being around someone that was high made her skin itch.

But as uncomfortable as she felt, she pushed those feelings away as she traversed the darkness of the park. Her prisoner was both fully human and much wider than Taylor, which meant that she needed to find the biggest, oldest, and sturdiest tree to travel to the oak they had beside Brockton General… which with the way he was leaking meant that she needed to hurry.

Within the dark, unlit park there were many old trees that seemed to flourish with Taylor's presence, it was within places like this that she felt powerful enough to ward of Winter's icy grip on her heart but not by much. The gloom still lingered and would likely continue to linger until true Spring finally thawed New England free. While she searched she felt a disturbance in the Green. The office plants sang from their perch

Several men, at least twenty or so, had entered Adam's park. From the way they moved Taylor could feel that they were giving a larger human, at the center of their pack a wide berth. Through the Green, she could feel how they moved as if crouched as if they had guns, and how they expected to surprise her before the one in the middle stepped in.

To Taylor the reason why they had come after her was a rather obvious one. She hadn't been stealthy as she made her to the park and anyone could see her luging the black clad cape on her back… or followed the trail of blood. Like Shadow Stalker they were after her prisoner, but unlike the hero Taylor was out of patience and on a deadline.

She crouched behind a Quaking Aspen and released her prisoner from his position on her back. She kept the leg elevated before closing her eyes and focusing on the flora around her. The local Green was receptive of its Guardian and nearly jumped in her defense but she urged them to wait, she needed to see who was so intent on killing her prisoner that they would try to ambush Foxglove in her domain.

Taylor could not see true color through the Green. It did not process color the same way that human's could comprehend, it didn't need to see color to measure the threat, all it needed to do was understand was the shape of it. Lung was a distinctive shape, one that the Green had been observing since Taylor first made up her mind to become a hero. In his normal form he was formidable looking human but as he was now, with patches of triangular metal, he was doubly so.

The plants were hungry, they hadn't been properly fed all winter, and if they had their way they would dissolve the nutrients from the Lung and his ABB.

' _That's not heroic, Taylor.'_ A voice in her head reasoned. ' _That's murder!'_

'But they're hungry and it would be self defense !' Another part argued. ' _They haven't been fed in months_!'

Flashes of her mother's disappointed face filled her consciousness causing the sopelings's determination to waver.

" _Fine_! _Hurt them, but don't kill them."_ She transmitted that intent through the Green with a huff.

And then one of those bastard purposefully stepped on an out of the way pansy… the gloves were off.

The first wave of her attack was less obvious but very effective. She influenced the flora to release as much pollen as they could possibly produce, making it difficult to breathe. The ABB gangbangers slowed as it stated to irritate their eyes and impair their breathing. The second wave… now, that was much more violent. Roots erupted from the ground with chunks of ice and stone latched onto them. They move through the darkness like clubs, smacking into their targets with enough force that they splintered bone. They opened fire in the dark hoping to hit something but it was useless, the Green was an extension of her will and she asked only for decimation.

Lung shot fire trying to burn the roots but the frost protected them well enough that they were able to wrap themselves around the Dragon of Kyushu's hand and coiled. In his early stages Lung metal crumpled like pipe under the constant pressure. He roared but as he did he left himself open to an onslaught. From her hiding spot, Foxglove threw mushroom bombs with toxic spores

From what she had read on PHO, healing types could shrug off poison and recover from wounds, so she laid down as much punishment as her ability allowed. Distaste filled her as she directed her bat to bite into his more vulnerable areas.

Lung was bad news, and she needed him out of action as soon as possible.

That meant delivering the hurt

Part of her felt horror at the complete apathy as she tore into Lung. Quieted this mounting feeling by reminding herself of all the terrible things the monster in front of her had caused to her city.

Poison and pain was what he deserved and Guardian it was her duty to deliver this punishment. Lung exploded with a ball of fire but by then it was too late. Taylor could feel the spores within his body, he wouldn't be moving for much longer. He ripped the roots off of him as quickly as they latched onto him the more he struggled he faster they circulated through his system.

The screams of the ABB members had died though Lung continued to roar like a beast.

"Muh… Motherfucker!" She heard him cry in his heavy accent. Roots and vines dug into his burning flesh like hooks dragging him into the earth. His knees buckled under the growing pressure. The dragon of Kyushu kneeled to the might of the Green.

But soon that was not enough.

The beast that had been Lung grew larger and its fire grew even hotter.

Stepping out from her cover, Taylor stood as the avatar to the Green's wrath. Her normally white sclera was as black as the Rot itself. She no longer cared if this monster, who had intruded in her domain lived through the night, she felt only apathy towards Lung.

The Battle for Adam's Park had just begun!

…

Or so she thought as three monstrous beasts, the size of full grown Rhinos charged at Lung.

She turned in time to see that there were two girls, and a fancily dressed guy. One of the girls approached her. She wore skintight black and lavender bodysuit. It was primarily lavender but she had black stripes. Taylor barely the stylized 'Tt' but her keen eyes and the Green had made note of it through threat assessment. She was blonde and wore a lavender mask that along with her shiny blonde hair covered most of her face except her shining blue eye.

She was grinning at a force nature… that made Taylor very uncomfortable.

"Hi, I'm Tattletale." She was way too cheery for someone standing a few yards away from a seven foot burning man being pelted by plants and torn apart by rhino-dog things. "And we're going to be best friends, Foxy!"

Somehow Taylor doubted that.

XxX

A/N: That's a wrap for chapter two of Foxglove! This chapter gave me a bit more trouble than the other two to Shadow Stalker's little intervention. You see, I knew that Sophia wouldn't take Taylor attitude laying down, she needed to lash out but she couldn't exactly do that with Madison filming the confrontation, so she goes after her Nemesis. This happens as the Undersiders are fighting off Oni Lee. Like a predator Shadow Stalker goes after Grue, wounding him, and isolating him fro the team. A chase ensues and they eventually run into a contemplating Foxglove looking for trouble.

As for Taylor not opening the can of Whoop-ass she's currently unleashing on Lung on Shadow Stalker is simple and two fold. She has restraint, she knows she could overwhelm her opponent but her opponent is a Hero and Ward, she can't exactly kill her without the PRT labeling her as a Villain. This is a major factor… along with the fact that she's fighting in an alley. While with Lung, she doesn't have those problems, he's a terror and so are his ABB. As they inhabit the Docks I imagine that they cause some trouble for the Dockworker's Union so they aren't going to be on Taylor's goodside.

Nights not over yet!


	4. Geranium 1-3

Tattletale was at an impasse.

Lisa studied the wood clad cape standing directly in front of her with wide-eyed wonder. The woman was tall, like supermodel tall. Her body was, for lack of a better term, built for seduction. Her skin was green but not disgustingly so; it was more of slight tint than an earthy grass/muck color. Now, normally Lisa is more cautious about new Parahumans but there just something about her that sparked something within Lisa. She was genuinely curious about this seemingly random woman that was taking on the Lung just because she solely wanted to protect-

No, not just protect… avenge? What could she have possibly loved so much that she would go up against the man who fought Levi- a flower?! Seriously?! She picked a fight with one of the deadliest Capes in the Bay over a flower? Was she insane? No, not insane determined. Doesn't like when people in power abuse said power. Okay… unexpected but maybe, just maybe, Lisa could work with this. Chances were it was a really rare flower that the Cape had planted earlier… no?

Of course not.

Because fuck rationality, Petunias was where this Fox masked Cape drew the line.

Why? Her power didn't supply an answer for this except for singular word green… just green nothing else. No other clues or hints just that she was doing it for green. No, that wasn't entirely right… her power was saying The Green… as if it were a living entity. No… it was something deeper. Something that even her Thinker power couldn't possibly comprehend… not that it didn't stop her power from trying.

The headache that would follow would be one of the worst she endured since she triggered but it would be well worth it.

Sadly she didn't get very far as Brutus knocked the poor Thinker off his back as he joined the his brother and sister in their combined assault on a heavily poisoned Lung. She was lucky that no one but Regent caught that… Okay maybe not so lucky, Regent, or Alec as he called himself would undoubtedly tease her for a while, but come on; he was totally gawking at the new Cape too!

' _Focus, Tattletale_.' She scolded herself. ' _Okay, what powers do you have, Foxy?'_

 _Controlling the trees. Chlorokinetic. Master. Possibly Striker based. Does her power need her to be in contact with plants before hand? Shaker more likely._

 _'No shit, power_.' The way the trees were coming to life to beat the living shit out of Lung made that pretty obvious. So, the Parahuman was a Master, Shaker, Blaster, not a bad combo but not exactly unique either. Boston had a Cape with a similar power set. Blasto was considered D-list villain at best but Tattletale was sure it was because of his equipment and not his ability to cause havoc. He was pretty anti establishment but had yet to seriously make a move. ' _What else?'_

 _Skin is poisonous. Toxikinetic. If touched poison would traverse the system in thirty seconds before causing major organ failure and death. Can deactivate but doesn't when she senses danger. It causes green coloration in her skin. Not a Case 53._

Add Changer and Striker.

 _Body is releasing Pheromones meant to lure targets close and takes direct control… controlling agent found within her saliva. Can control the emotions she wishes to induce._

Add that to the Master/Changer rating.

 _Grew mushroom grenades herself. Changes flora to suit her needs. Serpent currently attacking Lung's genitalia is one of her creations. Could manipulate Wet-tinker. Limit Tinker. Bio-Tinker._

' _This is so not fair.'_

 _Dent in chest piece indicates that she was hit with some kind projectile. Crossbow Bolt. Wound has healed. Regenerator. Encountered Shadow Stalker_.

Of course she was a Brute too. Why wouldn't she be?

Final tally: Master, Shaker, Striker, Changer, Tinker, and Brute.

…

Even though she was jealous, Tattletale couldn't stop the grin that threatened to split her face. ' _Eat that Faultline!'_ Said Cape and her crew had recently scooped Spitfire right from under their noses… admittedly it was Bitch's fault but it was Faultline who had ended up recruiting her, despite the obvious dibs the Undersiders had. Lisa couldn't wait to see the look on that smug bitch's face when the Undersiders went big time. Oh, that would make her soooo happy.

The Cape turned as soon as Rachel's dog charged past her. Lisa nearly once again froze in place when she caught sight of her eyes. Black sclera accentuated glowing lime green irises.

They radiated power.

' _Hero.'_ Or at least she wanted be. ' _It's her first night out. She's on edge. Isn't sure if she's done the right thing protecting Grue. Certain that Lung should be stopped, that the means will justify the ends. Doesn't know about the Undersiders, doesn't know why everyone is so intent on getting their hands on him_.' A quick glance at Brian told her everything she needed to know. There was a small gash under his right arm where Oni Lee managed to nick him due to Shadow Stalker's intervention. Crossbow Bolt narrowly missed the artery in his leg, but the amount of blood lost had put him in critical condition.

This is where the impasse came into effect. They either finished the fight now, risking Grue's life or they retreat, abandon the Cape, save Grue, and lose the opportunity of a lifetime.

Shooting Lung a quick and she was skipping closer to the Chlorokinetic. The Dragon of Kyushu fell to a knee as a wooden spear dug into both his leg and Judas dug his teeth into Lung's shoulder. He was knocked to the ground, the dog's tor into him, and Foxy's plants kept on their barrage.

Impasse resolved.

Grin still firmly set in place she made to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Tattletale." Lisa greeted with a small wave. "And we're going to be best friends, Foxy!" The Cape oozed skepticism; Tattletale didn't need her power to see that. 'Okay, maybe that wasn't the right thing to say, think Lisa…' "You really saved us a lot of trouble. When we got word Lung was coming for us, we were pretty freaked out. Grue and me were arguing strategy for the better part of the day. We eventually decided, to as he would say," She pointed to Brian. "'Fuck it', we'd meet him halfway. Hit him before he could ramp up. Not our usual way of doing things, but we were out of options, so yeah."

Beast like roar erupted from the gang leader's mouth and a few seconds after that he was on the floor, spent. The amount of poison in his system was more than enough to kill a man three times his size, but for Lung it was enough to slow his healing to the point where it became useless. The trees bound him tight against the floor while Bitch whistled and called her dogs away.

"You really did a number on him, he's in real bad shape… Gonna feel a helluvalot worse tomorrow." Jokes were not her forte and that was made particularly clear when Foxy's skepticism turned to agitation. "Okay, not in the mood for humor. I get it but speaking of people worse for wear… " Indicating Grue. " So, if you don't mind… we'll take him off your hands."

Foxy looked between them. Her head moved with her eyes and she bit her lip while considering it.

"Why isn't she talking?" Alec asked moving closer. "I mean, I know I'm impressive but it usually takes longer to make women speechless. You didn't hit your head in the fight?"

"Shut up, Regent." Lisa urged. She noticed the slight embarrassment in the Cape's demeanor that only seemed to spur her agitation. _Isn't used to being desired._

'How?' Even Tattletale, who was borderline asexual, was attracted to her in costume she needed to be stunning without the mask. ' _Changer… oh.'_

"The reason she's not introducing herself isn't because she's hurt," Tattletale told him. "It's because she's shy. But can we please take our friend? He really needs help and we can get it for him." _'Please say yes.' "_ The Protectorate won't get here in time."

That sparked something within the Cape. _Lost someone because the ambulance arrived too late. "_ Take him." She murmured turning to her back to them focusing on Lung. Even her voice was carried a hypnotic tone. Tattletale signaled her to companions to grab Brian, which they did. But she never looked away from Foxy. She walked to the ever-growing cocoon of roots and vines that was growing around Lung's body.

She watched as Foxy placed her right hand on it and the nature of some of the vines changed. They were now bright and colorful, and undoubtedly… poisonous? No, not poisonous… she doesn't have the heart to kill him… she's keeping him sedated.

'Smart.' Not what Lisa would have done but then again she wasn't inclined to leave powerful enemies alive when she could deal with them. The girl really wanted to be a hero. Tattletale opened her mouth to say something when she noticed the time.

"Heads up." She told Alec and Rachel. "We gotta scram." No matter how bad PRT response time was they'd be at the park in the next few minutes. Skirmishes in the Docks were low priority but a cape fight in the heart of Downtown? That would get a response. If they were lucky they'd send one of their slower capes, because avoiding Velocity without Grue was going to be near impossible.

Bitch nodded in response and whistled, one short whistle followed by two long ones.

"Hey!" Tattletale shouted grabbing the Foxy's attention. "What's your name?"

Foxy remained quiet for a few seconds before. Shouting back: "Foxglove."

To long to be a nickname but it fit, if only because of the mask There was no doubt in Tattletale black heart that this girl was on of those righteous type, incorruptible, but that didn't mean that she couldn't plant the seed of doubt...

o0o0o0o0o

God it sounded so childish when Taylor said it out loud, but hey, things couldn't possibly get any worse.

"Well, Foxy, a cape is gonna show up in less than a minute. You did us a solid by dealing with Lung, so take my advice. Someone from the Protectorate shows up, finds two bad guys duking it out, they're not going to let one walk away. You should get out of here," She said. Tattletale flashed her a smile. She had one of those vulpine grins that turned up at the corners. Behind her simple black domino style mask, her eyes were glittering with mischief that made Taylor very weary of her words. If she had red hair, she would have made Taylor think of a real fox…

Tattletale kind of did, anyways.

They disappeared into the night with a series of leaps. Leaving Taylor alone. She concentrated and ordered the trees to do with the downed gangsters what she had done to Lung. In an explosion of movement, roots and vines spread from the cocoon and pulled their broken bodies towards it. They latched them to its sides, a position fitting for lackeys.

She huffed.

It was easy enough to pin down Regent, Tattletale and Bitch as teenagers. It wasn't much of an intuitive leap to guess that Grue had been one too. Taylor was frustrated that she had to let the small group of villains go, but she knew that if the battle dragged on Grue would have died. She didn't want that kind of blood on her hands especially when she had spent the better part of the night trying to keep him alive.

It took her some time to restore this small green oasis in a sea of concrete but it was a good way to pass the time while she waited for the PRT. The roots shifted thee ground, burnt grass and damaged grass was broken down and replaced by newer, stronger and healthier blades.

It wasn't long before she heard the cape arrive on a souped up motorcycle. For a brief moment she considered just using a nearby tree and use the Green to get away, but that felt too cowardly. She also needed to clear up what happened with Shadow Stalker. Besides there was still a chance that Lung could recover and she needed to be there to make sure he couldn't hurt anyone else.

If someone had asked Taylor how she would feel meeting a big time hero a few hours ago, she would have said happy or giddy. The reality was that she was too tired and apathetic to care.

The largest superhero organization in the world was the Protectorate, spanning Canada and the States, with ongoing talks about including Mexico in the deal. It was a government-sponsored league of superheroes with a base in each 'cape city'. That is, they had a team set up in each city with a sizable population of heroes and villains. Brockton Bay's team was officially 'The Protectorate East-North-East', and was headquartered in the floating, force field-shrouded island that people could see from the Boardwalk. This guy, Armsmaster, was the guy in charge of the local team. When the core group of the top Protectorate members from around Canada and the States assembled in that classic 'v' formation for the photo shoots, Armsmaster was one of the guys in the wings. This was a guy who had his own action figures.

Poseable Armsmaster with interchangeable Halberd parts.

To Taylor's surprise the man didn't disappoint, he looked every part the Hero the Protectorate sold him to be. He wore body armor, dark blue with silver highlights, had a sharply angled v-shaped visor covering his eyes and nose. To her, Armsmaster looked like a knock off Judge Dredd… with a multi-purpose halberd instead of a multi-purpose hand cannon. His lower face was exposed, sowing a neatly bearded chin.

"You gonna fight me?" He calls out from what he assumes is a safe distance.

"Only if you attack me first." She responded drily. What was up with people thinking she was looking for a fight? Was it the armor? She had purposefully avoided integrating sharp edges into it.

"You don't look like a Hero." He stated unmoving.

"Yet, I am." She snapped. "And you look like a complete dork." ' _Why, Taylor? Why would you say that!?'_ She was growing annoyed with how this night was going. All this shit happened and now it looked like she had lost her filter. S.A.D was probably kicking in now that she was calmed down.

She was just done.

Honestly.

"She has you there, Armsmaster." A new voice said from behind her, it belonged to a red armored cape, male, with light brown hair. The upper side of his face was covered with an equally red visor, but his smile was visible.

"What are you doing here, Assault?"

"I was in the neighborhood and I thought that I could help out with Lung." He shot Taylor a conspiratorial look… that she had no idea what it meant. "But this little lady seems to have beat us to it."

"So it does." She said evenly. She couldn't buckle now not after she' insulted the most important cape in Brockton Bay.

"You're a new face." Assault chimed before Armsmaster could get a word in edge wise. He shot his teammate a look that pretty much read ' _shut up and let me handle this_ ' "What do we call you?"

"Foxglove."

"Like the flower?" Armsmaster asked. He didn't phrase it like a question; it was more of a statement.

"Yes." She answered curtly.

"Now that's squared away, do you need a hospital?"

Did she need to go to the hospital? She probably should. Fighting Lung and taking an arrow to the chest definitely gave her an excuse to- _'Holy shit! If fought a Ward.'_ Now things became complicated. She had two very unpleasant options ahead of her; either she kept quiet hoped that she left a good impression on Assault and pray that Shadow Stalker was too drugged out to remember her or she spun the narrative. Told the truth in a way that showed that she had been in the right.

"No, he never got close to me." She suddenly remembered the arrow Shadow Stalker shot at her chest. It didn't hurt anymore but she did think it was relevant. 'Now, Taylor, smoothly tell them what happened. They're heroes, they are morally bound to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Looking back at this moment Taylor would blame Emma Barnes for what happened. Taylor had never been a good public speaker, but after making her a social pariah things had gotten worse. There were times when she was presenting in front of Mister G's class that she would blurt out things that she had rehearsed for days…

"But your Ward did." She said this in a way that was comparable to using a cannon to crack a coconut. ' _Why are you like this?'_

Armsmaster didn't hesitate to aim his halberd straight at her, Assault was frozen in place, and Taylor was staring at the sci-fi axe pointed at her chest.

Things had gotten worse.

o0o0o0o0o

A/N: I told you guys that Taylor would come to regret what she said in 1-1. Prepared to fight villains? Sure. Prepared to fight a hero? Not really, but she could manage. Putting her foot in her mouth? No, not at all.

Now, as to why Assault was there: Well, the original scene took place in the Docks. I'd assume that they deployed Armsmaster because he was closest. Since this is Lung, the man who fought an Endbringer and beat all the capes in Brockton Bay, and in a completely different area going it alone seems suicidal so I added Assault to the mix. The man is basically Maverick from X-Men, he would be useful against one of the hardest in the city.

To the guest that posed the excellent question: Logical explanation: Some people are just naturally more resistant to anesthesia than others. Add that to the fact this is Taylor's first outing she's not sure how long her poison's take effect.

Please comment.

Next Update: Warm Shadows


	5. Interlude 1-a

Interlude 1.a (Ethan)

Ethan liked to think that his knew his way around the block. He'd been a villain for years before joining the Protectorate, Madcap was not the proudest achievement that particular honor belonged to his beloved Puppy, that meant that he was much more flexible than most heroes. When they needed someone to soft pitch Wards to some at risk kids Ethan was the man they went to. Why? Because he was the dashing rogue of his team, that's why. Big inspiring speeches? Armsmaster and Miss Militia, or hell even Dauntless, had that covered; relating to the public that was his.

Halbeard on the other hand was a straight and narrow as the pole that he kept jammed up his ass. Now, Ethan knew better than to speak ill of the chief but he honestly didn't know how they let him lead the Wards. Miss Militia would have been a much better choice… she could at least relate to the kids but since he had seniority the responsibility fell to him. That being said, when they were on base Armsmaster focused solely on Kid Win, but on the field he actually led them all with no favoritism.

The man cared for people under his charge and god help whoever hurt those he commanded.

Sadly, that included the armadi- fox masked cape that was glaring at Armsmaster defiantly despite having his Tinker tech halberd leveled at her chest.

The girl had presence about her that lifted the hairs on the back of his neck something fierce. There things one simply didn't even try to fight but heroes did regardless. Acts of God, Endbingers, Sleeper, and Scion if he ever decided to wipe the slate… this girl elicited the same feeling. His hindbrain told him to take a few thousand steps back but Puppy would be really mad if he left Armsmaster to deal with this cape alone.

He shuddered to think what Piggot would do to him. There were only so many hours of Console duty he could do before losing his shit, besides stopping heroes from going too far was his stick.

"Armsmaster." He warned in in his usually disarming voice. His hands were up in a placating manner. "Lower the halberd and let the lady talk."

Colin, being the stubborn and prideful hero that he was, promptly ignored Ethan's sage advice. "Explain." He ground out through his teeth. "NOW!" The blade tapped was a hair's breath away from nudging her when she acted. There was a flash of green through the eyeholes of Foxglove's mask and the earth shifted ever so slightly. Vines shot from the ground wrapping themselves around the weapons shaft yanking it from the veteran heroes hand and throwing it a few meters away. Assault moved between them faster than Armsmaster could twitch.

Something red slithered up Foxglove's leg and before he knew it she had a blood-covered bat in her hand. "Point that thing at me again and I'll snap it half!" Assault didn't blame her for her knee jerk reaction; there was plenty of news coverage where Armsmaster had split vehicles in half with his trusty halberd. Getting that thing away from him would have been his top priority too if he had been on the business end of it.

Colin made to move but was stopped by a very firm hand on his chest and a very, very sharp look from the usually grinning hero. Normally Assault would have backed his boss man's play but he definitely wasn't thinking straight.

"I asked you to relax." Assault whispered with a not so kind smile. "Now, I am telling you to back the hell off, cool down and call Console. Aegis should be on duty tonight." BOOM! Battery would be so proud that he memorized the Wards schedule… but she'll definitely be really annoyed when she finds out that he used it against Armsmaster.

"She attacked a Ward." Colin protested loudly. "If she did this to Lung, imagine she could do to a non-brute-" Yeah, not a pretty image. He'd fought Lung before with all the ENE Protectorate backing him up… the fact this… woman had single handedly taken down the Dragon of Kyushu was exactly

"You're speculating." Armsmaster was a man of facts, rarely if ever did he fly of the hinges but when it happened it wasn't a pretty sight. The problem with him was that he didn't get enough sleep, nor did he eat enough either. Ethan knew what happened when you didn't sleep, the rec room's Nintendo paid dearly for his attempt at beating Vista's high score on Contra. "Let me handle this."

Much to Ethan's disappointment Armsmaster didn't respond verbally instead looked passed Assault, glared a Foxglove and levied another threat. "Attacking a Ward is an arrestable offense and so is assaulting a member of the Protectorate."

"Threatening someone with deadly force when they are in the process of reporting a crime is also a crime, Armsmaster. Doubly so if the one levying the threat is a Parahuman." She retorted, her grip on the bloodied bat tightening. Ethan eye's widened slightly. Not many newbies bothered to read up on Parahuman law. "As of right now, I can claim that all you've done has been in an attempt to make me lash out. From the moment you rode into this park you attempted to incite violence by challenging me to fight, after I subdued a known criminal and his gang. You leveled your weapon at me the second I wished to report an altercation with one of your own."

Foxglove's eyes hardened as she lowered he bat. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the nearest Watchmen group and have you reported."

Assault sighed audibly. He wanted to bonk his boss over the head with the new cape's bat but refrained himself, that would only make things worse. Fresh Capes were usually in it for the glory, more often than not they just wanted to bust some heads as such they didn't prepare for the legal side of things if they went to far or if they PRT or the Protectorate attempted to press charges against them unfairly. In his experience Capes that didn't know their own rights were just statistics waiting to happen.

Foxglove didn't fall into this category.

A few weeks ago most people wouldn't have heard of Watchmen, they didn't raise their voices often but when they did it just meant trouble for the PRT and the Protectorate but things were changing. They were a group of watchdogs that tended to raise hell when Parahuman's rights were being violated. For example the Canary trial that was currently going on up in Boston, but they were kicking up a storm but were being attacked by hackers which meant that everything the collect is potentially compromised thus inadmissible.

That didn't mean that they were without teeth. The public was on their side, their voice carried weight and they knew exactly how to use it. If they turned their eyes onto Brockton Bay because Armsmaster decided to get too rough with the cape who took down Lung Assault was sure that Piggot would have an aneurism.

PR would try to sweep it under the rug with fluff pieces but Watchmen would just bring it back up. This would be especially devastating in cities with growing Rogue population, like Brockton Bay, where Villains and Rogues out numbered the official Protectorate Heroes. The Rogues would lose more trust in the system and the Villains would use it as ammunition to recruit.

"I am well within my rights to aim my weapon at hostile Parahumans." Armsmaster stated unflinching. He shoved past Ethan to use his size to intimidate the cape... "Just like I am within my right to arrest you." Assault knew what he was doing, Collin wanted to cow the girl because it hurt his pride to see Lung taken down by someone who was figuratively… and literally, green behind the ears. It was childish but he had seen it happen enough with Dauntless to know what was going through Armsmaster's head. That didn't mean that he would excuse it, as soon as he defused the situation he was going to do something he never thought possible:

Willingly step into Director Piggot's office.

The Red clad hero was about to speak up when Foxglove lowered the bat and stood quiet for a minute. Collin smirked slightly, probably thinking that his threat had worked. The next second had the vines around Lung and his group loosen and sink into the earth. Foxglove turned on her heel, taking three steps before resting her hand on a nearby tree.

"What do you think-" Armsmaster stated but was interrupted by the green light that began to emanate from the old tree.

"Thanks for the reason." The angry cape said over her shoulder and in a flash she was gone.

Ethan didn't miss a beat.

"Console." He greeted uncharacteristically pissed. "I need the location and status of the Wards."

"Sure thing, Assault." Aegis chimed back. "Vista and Clockblocker are currently on patrol near the Boardwalk and report that nothing of interest has happened. Kid Win and Gallant are on base, preparing to head out. Shadow Stalker's supervisor reported that she'z returned home and hasn't left."

"Can you contact her?" Ethan urged. He needed to hear it directly from Carlos that Sophia was where she said she was.

"Give me a sec… no, her PRT issued phone is currently deactivated but the last ping has her in her house."

"Try her regular cel."

"Okay…it's ringing…" A beat of silence of silence later and Carlos spoke up. "No answer but the GPS has her pinged Downtown and moving slowly toward her house." Moving was a good sign but outside her house wasn't. Shadow Stalker wasn't supposed to be left unsupervised and Wards weren't supposed to have their gear in their home.

"Good, give me the coordinates." He tuned of the communicator and looked at Colin who had retrieved his Halberd. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Yes. I confronted a hostile Parahuman that assaulted a Ward."

"No, you turned this into a dick measuring contest and you lost!" Assault shouted. "Foxglove had point. You came off as hostile first and began jumping to conclusions without all the information and when things weren't going your way you tried to intimidate a cape that soloed Lung! One that claimed to be a hero!"

"There is no evidence that she was the only one here."

"There isn't any evidence to claim differently."

"And what would you have done?"

"Me?" Assault asked with a mocking tone. "I would have followed protocol, asked her questions, get to the bottom of her claims and maybe offer her a place in the Protectorate if she's old enough or Wards if she's not. But mainly I would attempt to deescalate the situation!" Before Colin could speak to his defense Ethan raised his hands in surrender. "You know what? it doesn't matter while Piggot drops the Hammer of God on you I'll be trying to mend the bridge that you just wrecked. So stay with Lung I'm going to get our wayward Ward before you decide to do something even dumber tonight."

With that Ethan began to walk in the direction of Sophia's last known location and Armsmaster continued on looking stoic but there was a slight frown on his face as he watched his teammate walkaway.

o0o0o0o0o

A/N: There be one more interlude.

There are some situations that are unsalvageable, despite how hard you try to save them. Armsmaster was so sure of taylor's guilt that he didn't restarin himself reason that Sophia hasn't called it in and why she's not wearing her usual costume is because she is still on probation and she wasn't authorized to go out and murder Grue. She doesnt want to create trouble for herself and thus would prefer to tough it out.

Next update: Space Oddity


End file.
